The
Newsletter of the Pan American Health Organization - August
2006PAHO Staff Members Honored
Three current and former staff members of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) were honored in recent months for their contributions to international public health.
Claude De Ville de Goyet, who led PAHO's Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief program for 25 years, was honored with a certificate of distinction as part of the United Nations' 2005 Sasakawa Awards for Disaster Reduction. De Ville has been a lifetime promoter of disaster risk reduction in the PAHO region and globally, and was one of the earliest promoters of the "safe hospitals" initiative. His leadership led to a number of PAHO innovations in disaster management and mitigation, including the SUMA computerized system for management of humanitarian assistance.
Antonio Hernández, PAHO's regional advisor on health services engineering, was honored by the Colombian senate for his contributions to clinical engineering in his native country. Hernández was also named president of the Third Colombian Congress of Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering, scheduled to be held in Manizales, Colombia, in 2007.
Matilde Maddaleno, regional advisor on adolescent health at PAHO, received special recognition from the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, Mexico, for her work promoting adolescent health at the international level. The university presents the Reconocimiento a la Mujer ("Recognition of Women") award each year to honor women who make outstanding contributions in the areas of government, teaching and research, business, social service, and international linkage.
Routing rubella
Ciro de Quadros (on the left,) president and CEO of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, signed an agreement in April with PAHO Director Mirta Roses to continue a joint project aimed at eliminating rubella and congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) from the Americas. The project, launched in 2005, supports adult vaccination and supplemental immunization activities. Its first year focused on the English-speaking Caribbean and Costa Rica, Ecuador,El Salvador,Honduras, and Venezuela. The next phase will concentrate on Argentina, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. PAHO has set a target date of 2010 for the elimination of rubella and CRS from the Americas.